Dr Roula Nezi
About
Biography
I am Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Surrey. My research examines developments in public opinion and political attitudes, political parties and party systems, and electoral behaviour. I am also interested in survey methodology and quantitative methods. My academic work has been published in a wide range of Q1 journals.
University roles and responsibilities
- Director of Postgraduate Research
Previous roles
ResearchResearch interests
My research interest include: political behaviour, public opinion, economic voting, political attitudes, survey experiments, Bayesian data analysis
Research projects
I am currently leading a research team studying authoritarian attitudes among younger age cohorts in Europe. (POLGEN). POLGEN is part of the SOLIKRIS project and is hosted by three prominent German Institutions (GESIS, WZB and the University of Heidelberg).
SOLIKRIS has a budget of €1m and is funded by the German Ministry of Education (BMBF)
Research interests
My research interest include: political behaviour, public opinion, economic voting, political attitudes, survey experiments, Bayesian data analysis
Research projects
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
I am happy to supervise PhD students working in the area of political behaviour. I have a particular interest on applications related to voting, political attitudes, political parties and party systems.
Teaching
Research Methods (POL2028)
Statistical models for understanding politics: Introduction to econometrics (POL2045)
Electoral System and Voting Behaviour (POL2046)
Research in Practice (POLM011)
Publications
Late Peter Mair argued that, in the contemporary multilevel institutional setting of global governance, parties are faced with a dilemma between Responsiveness and Responsibility (RR dilemma). However, Mair did not theorize variation in how different parties experience the RR dilemma (degrees of tension) and how they manage it (strategies). We develop his work in three ways: first, we advance variants of the RR dilemma, where the tension party leaders face differs, and elucidate how viable contenders for executive office are likely to behave in each of these scenarios, and why. Second, we highlight domestic institutional factors (electoral rules and leadership autonomy) that regulate the pressure for responsiveness to public opinion and to partisans. Third, we place the RR dilemma in the context of multidimensional issue competition, which helps identify strategies for managing it. Finally, we provide an empirical illustration of our arguments using data on public opinion and partisans. We show that although responsibility can be combined with (some) voters’ representation, tension is high when leaders are constrained and partisans oppose responsibility even if the public endorses it; also, under disproportional electoral rules when the public opposes responsibility, even if party supporters endorse it.
Additional publications
Wegscheider, C., & Nezi, R. (2021). Who belongs to the people? The societal boundaries of national
and European notions of citizenship. In Democratic Citizenship in Flux (pp. 173-192). transcript-
Verlag.
Busemeyer, M. R., Abrassart, A., & Nezi, R. (2021). Beyond positive and negative: New perspectives
on feedback effects in public opinion on the welfare state. British Journal of Political Science, 51(1),
137-162.
Lefkofridi, Z., & Nezi, R. (2020). Responsibility versus responsiveness . . . to whom? A theory of
party behavior. Party Politics, 26(3), 334-346.
Lefkofridi, Z., & Nezi, R. (2019). Between representation and responsibility, in SYRIZA: a Party in
transformation- from protest to government, edited by Iannis Balabanidis, Themelio.
Georgiadou, V., Kafe, A., Nezi, S., & Pieridis, C. (2019). Plebiscitarian spirit in the square. Key
characteristics of the Greek indignants. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 32(1),
43-59.
Busemeyer, M. R., Garritzmann, J. L., Neimanns, E., & Nezi, R. (2018). Investing in education in
Europe: Evidence from a new survey of public opinion. Journal of European Social Policy, 28(1),
34-54.
Gemenis, K., & Nezi, R. (2015). Government{opposition dynamics during the economic crisis in
Greece. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 21(1), 14-34.
Nezi, R., & Katsanidou, A. (2014). From valence to position: Economic voting in extraordinary
conditions. Acta Politica, 49(4), 413-430.
Nezi, R. (2012). Economic voting under the economic crisis: Evidence from Greece. Electoral
studies, 31(3), 498-505.
Kafe, A., Nezi, R., & Pieridis, C. (2011). Who abstains and why: an analysis of the 2010 Greek
local election. Science and Society: Journal of Political and Moral Theory, 27, 25--54.
Nezi, R., Sotiropoulos, D. A., & Toka, P. (2010). Attitudes of Greek parliamentarians towards
European and national identity, representation, and scope of governance. South European Society
and Politics, 15(1), 79-96.
Nezi, S., Sotiropoulos, D. A., & Toka, P. (2009). Explaining the Attitudes of Parliamentarians
towards European Integration in Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia: Party Aliation,` Left-Right'Self-
placement or Country Origin?. Europe-Asia Studies, 61(6), 1003-1020.
Sotiropoulos, D. A., Nezi, R. & Toka, P. (2008). Explaining the attitudes of Greek parliamentary
and business elites towards the European Union. Greek Political Science Review, 32, 25-41.